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ALABAMA ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY' 

MONTGOMERY 

Miscellaneous Papers, No. 3 



DE SOTO'S ROUTE 



FROM 



COFITACHEQUI, IN GEORGIA, 



TO 



COS A, IN ALABAMA 

BY 

DANIEL MARSHALL ANDREWS 



[Reprinted, from AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Vol. XIX, No. *,'■ 1917] 



Lancaster, Pa. 

The New Era Printing Company 

1917 



ALABAMA ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY 

MONTGOMERY 

Miscellaneous Papers, No. 3 



DE SOTO'S ROUTE 



FROM 



COFITACHEQUI, IN GEORGIA, 



TO 



COSA, IN ALABAMA 



BY 



DANIEL MARSHALL ANDREWS 



[Reprinted from AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Vol. XIX, No. 1, 1917] 



Lancaster, Pa. 

The New Era Printing Company 

1917 



D. of D. 
JUN 20 1917 



[Reprinted from the American Anthropologist, Vol. 19, No. 1, Jan. -March, 1917.] 



DE SOTO'S ROUTE FROM COFITACHEQUI, IN GEORGIA, 
TO COSA, IN ALABAMA 1 

By DANIEL MARSHALL ANDREWS 

THIS investigation embraces that part of De Soto's wanderings, 
from the town of Cofitachequi to Cosa. The sites of these 
two places have been fairly well established: Cofitachequi 
on the east, at Silver Bluff, on the Savannah river, twenty-five 
miles by river below Augusta, Georgia; Cosa on the west, near the 
mouth of Talladega creek on the Coosa river, about two miles 
above Childersburg, Talladega county, Alabama. An effort has 
been made to locate the route traveled and the various town sites 
mentioned in the De Soto narratives. 

The writer believes he has approximately located Xuala; that 
he has definitely located Gausili, Chiaha, Coste, Tali, Connasauga 
and Tasqui. He has brought to his aid in the investigation the 
geological and topographical knowledge of the country traversed, 
and his own intimate, personal familiarity with the region. 

He began this study believing that the site of Chiaha was on 
the Tennessee river, because Professor Halbert had so located it, 
and he laid great store by Professor Halbert's opinion. It was 
only by the severest process of elimination that he finally abandoned 
this location, and it can not, therefore, be presumed that he began 
the investigation with any bias in favor of the Coosa river. 

That part of De Soto's route with which we are concerned can 
be generalized as follows: From Cofitachequi to Chalaque (in the 
latter we recognize the modern word Cherokee) he marched through 
the coastal plain; from Chalaque to Xuala, through the Piedmont 
plateau; from Xuala to Gausili, through the Appalachian moun- 
tains; and from Gausili to Cosa, through or rather, down, the great 
Paleozoic valley, lying west of the great Cartersville fault. The 

1 Presented at a meeting of the Alabama Anthropological Society, held in Mont- 
gomery, Alabama, July 24, 1916. 

55 



56 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., 19, 191 7 

descriptions of all the chroniclers confirm this generalization; and 
thus the scope of our investigation is narrowed to a study of this 
geological region in Georgia and Alabama. Referring to the 
geological map (fig. 6), of that part of the state of Georgia with 
which we are concerned, it will be seen that the northern boundary 
of the coastal plain extends from Columbus on the west, through 
Macon and Milledgeville, to Augusta on the east. The Piedmont 
plateau extends from the northern limit of the coastal plain to a 
line drawn, roughly, northeast and southwest through Franklin 
county, approximately parallel with the Cartersville fault. The 
Appalachian mountains lie, approximately, between this line and 
the Cartersville fault, which is a great horizontal earth movement, 
extending, roughly, from the corner of Georgia and the Carolinas 
to Esom hill, in Alabama; and ten to twenty miles west of the 
fault lies the great Paleozoic valley. 

Again referring to the geological map : there are indicated there- 
on the coastal plain, the great metamorphic or crystalline region 
comprising the Piedmont plateau and the mountain section, and 
the great Paleozoic valley. Within these limits lay the route of 
De Soto, in Georgia. 

De Soto's route, as given by the chroniclers, is represented in the 
accompanying table. Ranjel is the only safe guide for distances 
traveled in days, because he is the only one of the chroniclers who 
always gives the actual number of days of travel and the days lost 
at -each town, village or camp. The others frequently give dis- 
tances in days that include stops at towns of which no mention is 
made; therefore, in computing the rate of travel in miles per day, 
Ranjel's narrative has been used exclusively. Ranjel's account of 
the expedition has been in print only during the last ten or fifteen 
years ; the older investigators, following the narratives of the other 
chroniclers, have been misled into reading too great distances into 
the narratives. Ranjel's spelling of place-names has also been 
followed throughout, except in quotations. La Vega's account of 
the expedition is not used, except where his statements are obviously 
correct, or where corroborated by one or more of the chroniclers. 
As will be shown further on, forced marches were made, because 



T £ N N. I 



GEOLOGICAL MAP 

NORTHERN GEORGIA 




ANDREWS] 



BE SOTO'S ROUTE 



57 



of the scarcity of food, from Cofitachequi to Chalaque, from 
Chalaque to Xuala, and from Xuala to Gausili. An inspection of 
the table of distances shows that eighteen miles was a day's travel 



Table 



Ranjel 








Biedma 


Elvas 


La Vega 






Distance 








Name of 










Name 0/ 






Town 




Days 


Miles 


Miles 
■her Day 


Town 


Town 


Town 


Cofitachequi 


Silver Bluff 








Cotifachiqui 


Cutifachiqui 


Cofaciqui 


Chalaque . . . 


Near Augusta 


2 


36 


18 




Chalaque 


Chalaques 


At mountain 


Graves Mt. 


I 


18 


18 










N. and S. fork 
Broad river 


4 


60 


15 


Xuala 


Xualla 


Chovala 


Gausili .... 


Carters, o n 
Coosawattee 


5 


90 


18 


Gausili 


Gausule 


Gauchoula 


Connasauga. 


Near junction 
Coosawattee 


i 


10 


10 




Canasauga 




Chiaha .... 


McCoy's 
island 


4 


50 


I2§ 


Chiaha 


Chiaha 


Iciaha 




Woods island 


5 


40 


8 


Costehe 


Coste 


Acosta 


Tali 


Mouth of Tal- 
lasahatchee 


i 


3 


3 




Tali 




Tasqui .... 


Near mouth of 
Choccolocco 


3 


20 


7 








Cosa 


Near mouth of 
Talladega Cr. 


2 


18 


9 


Cosa 


Cosa 


Cosa 



over this part of the route, except between Graves mountain and 
Xuala, where the travel was fifteen miles per day. From Gausili 
to Connasauga food was plentiful, and a day's travel was ten 
miles. From Connasauga to Chiaha part of the way was moun- 
tainous — " through a desert" — therefore more than twelve miles a 
day were traveled. From Chiaha to Cosa the journey was through 
a populous country, where. food was plentiful, and a day's travel 
was as follows: From Chiaha to Coste, eight miles; from Coste to 
Tali, three miles; from Tali to Tasqui, seven miles; from Tasqui 
to Cosa, nine miles; and, though the rate of travel may not be 
absolute, it is relative, and the writer considers it strong corrobora- 
tive evidence of his thesis. 

On Wednesday, May 13, 1540, the expedition left Cofitachequi. 
Ranjel says: "... and in two days came to the territory of 
Chalaque . . . and they bivouacked in a pine wood. . . .' n 

1 Narratives of De Soto (Trailmakers' Series), vol. 2, 1904, p. 102. 



58 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., 19, 191 7 

The great pine forest that then covered the coastal plain ex- 
tended fifteen to twenty miles north of the fault line at Augusta, 
along the Piedmont escarpment, and it was probably in this forest, 
near Augusta, that the camp was located. On Monday, May 17, 
the expedition left Chalaque and, according to Ranjel, "spent the 
night at a mountain." 1 This camp we can locate definitely at 
Graves mountain, in Lincoln county, because it is the only mountain 
in that whole section, and is a prominent feature of the landscape 
for miles around. The older investigators, as has been shown, 
did not have Ranjel's narrative to guide them and, therefore, 
missed this well-defined landmark. 

To have made the distance from Cofitachequi to Graves moun- 
tain in three days, the Spaniards were forced to march between 
seventeen and eighteen miles a day. We learn, from the narratives, 
that food along this part of the route was scarce, and they were 
compelled to make forced marches between points of supply, which 
were Cofitachequi, Chalaque, Xuala, and Causili. Then, too, they 
were not encumbered with a large drove of hogs, as many had been 
killed and eaten before their arrival at Cofitachequi, to save the 
expedition from starvation. 2 

After four days' march from Graves mountain they reached 
Xuala. La Vega says that the expedition marched four to five 
leagues each day. 3 The Spanish league being 2.63 of our statute 
miles, they therefore marched each day ten and a half to thirteen 
statute miles. La Vega's statement is probably near the truth, 
except as to forced marches. On account of the scarcity of food, 4 
they undoubtedly marched rapidly to Xuala, where food was plenti- 
ful. 5 Four days' travel from Graves mountain to Xuala, at fifteen 
miles per day, would have brought them either to the junction of the 
north and south forks of the Broad river, in Georgia, or to the junc- 
tion of the Broad and Hudson rivers, both locations being near to- 
gether. Ranjel says Xuala "is a village in a plain between two 

1 Ibid., p. 103. 

2 Ibid., p. 95, ci seq. 

3 De Soto and Florida, 1881, p. 374. 

* Narratives of De Solo, vol. 2, p. 15. 
6 Ibid., p. 103. 



Map or 
GEO/fGJA & ALABAMA, 

0£$CT0,/n /54d 




Andrews] DE SOTO'S ROUTE 59 

rivers." 1 La Vega says: "Chovala . . . situated between a town 
and a very rapid little river." 2 

Tuesday, May 25, they left Xuala and went over a high range, 
and the next day they camped in a plain where they suffered from 
the cold, although it was the 26th of May. 3 Elvas says: "From 
Cutifa to Xualla (is) mountainous country (more correctly, from 
Chalaque to Xualla); thence to Gauxule the way is over very 
rough and lofty ridges." 4 From Chalaque to Xuala the route was 
through the Piedmont plateau. The hilly, broken topography of 
this region Elvas calls mountainous; and, compared with the flat 
coastal plain through which they had been marching, it could well 
have appeared mountainous to him, particularly that section in the 
vicinity of Graves mountain over which they had passed. "The 
very rough and lofty ridges" from Xuala to Gausili are the 
Applachian mountains. 

La Vega says: "As soon as they left Chovala (Xuala) they 
struck straight for the coast and turned in the form of a curve, 
to arrive at the port of Achussi." 5 An inspection of the route, as 
laid down on the map of Georgia and Alabama, (fig. 7), will show 
that this statement by La Vega is correct. 

The march of five days could have brought them to any point on 
the arc of a circle shown on the map of Georgia, (fig. 7), drawn with 
Xuala as a center. Had they reached the northern point, indicated 
by a cross, on the headwaters of the Connasauga river, they would 
still have been in the mountains; though, in marching towards the 
Tennessee river, they would have crossed the Connasauga, which 
crossing would have tallied with the description of the chronicles. 
But the insuperable objection to any part of the route being along 
the Tennessee is that Cosa could not have been reached from Tali in 
five days, and it would have been necessary to cross Sand mountain ; 
while the accounts of all the chroniclers show plainly that Chiaha, 
Coste, Tali, and Cosa were all on the same stream, and no mention 
is made of a mountainous or broken country. 

1 Ibid., p. 103. 

2 De Soto and Florida, 1881, p. 367. 

3 Narratives of De Soto, p. 104. 
i Ibid„ vol. 1, p. 71. 

6 De Soto and Florida, p. 375. 



60 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., 19, 191 7 

An inspection of the map shows that the arc of the circle drawn 
with Xuala as a center cuts the Etowah river, near Cartersville, 
Georgia. The location of Gausili on this stream must be rejected, 
because its location there and the subsequent route to Chiaha does 
not fit the description of the chroniclers at all. Had the route down 
the Etowah been followed, the site of Chiaha must have been at 
the present town of Rome, Georgia, and to have reached it by the 
route described by the chroniclers, the crossing at Connasauga must 
have been on the Etowah ; the route, then, led over the ridge separat- 
ing the valleys of the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers, thence down 
the Oostanaula to Chiaha; but the expedition would have entered 
Chiaha without crossing any stream; whereas, the chroniclers 
mention the crossing to the town. All the chroniclers say that 
Chiaha was on an island. The expedition remained at the town 
for about a month; the members, undoubtedly, explored the 
country in every direction in search of booty and pleasure; and 
they could not have mistaken for an island, the peninsula on which 
Rome is situated. Five days, the time consumed in travel from 
Chiaha to Coste, as located herein, was too short for the journey, 
when we consider the populous character of the country along the 
Coosa, and the abundance of food. We must, therefore, look for 
another route that fits all the facts as given by the chroniclers. 

Let us go back to the 26th of May, when they camped in a 
plain in the mountains. Ranjel says: "There they crossed the 
river, wading up to their shins, by which later they were to depart 
in the brigantines they had made." 1 This stream is either the 
Cartecay or the Ellijay, probably the former, both tributaries of 
the Coosawattee river, though Ranjel evidently mistakes it for one 
of the tributaries of the Mississippi. They remained one day at 
this place, and the next day, the 28th, they passed the night in an 
oak grove, and the day following along a large stream, which they 
crossed many times. 2 The large stream was the Coosawattee, 
which they had now reached, and which they followed to Gausili. 
Further evidence that this stream is the Coosawattee is contained 



1 Narratives of De Solo, vol. 2, p. 104. 

2 Ibid., p. 106. 



Andrews] DE SOTO'S ROUTE 6 1 

in Ranjel's words, "which they crossed many times." The Coosa- 
wattee, until it reaches Carters, the site of Gausili, flows through a 
gorge in the mountains; at numerous places, on such a stream, the 
way is barred, on one side or the other, by projecting bluffs and 
cliffs, and, in order to pass these obstructions, the expedition had 
to cross the stream "many times." 

The site of Gausili is at or near Carters, in Murray county, 
Georgia, where the Coosawattee emerges from the mountains, and 
is indicated on the map. The writer has stood on the deck of a 
steamboat, at Carters, and watched the river come tumbling down 
out of the mountains within a few hundred yards of where he was 
standing. 

Elvas says: "He left Gausili and, after two days' travel, arrived 
at Conasauga. . . . Leaving Conasauga, he marched five days 
through a desert." 1 Desert, as used by the chroniclers, means the 
absence of villages where food could be procured. From Carters 
(Gausili) to the crossing of the Connasauga, the remains of village 
sites are plentiful, and it will be observed that this part of the route 
is not called a desert ; but the route from the Connasauga to Rome, 
down the Oostanaula, is also marked by the sites of many villages, 
and had the expedition taken this route, there would have been no 
mention of a desert. Ranjel says: "... and, since all the way 
from Xuala (to Chiaha) had been mountainous, and the horses 
were tired and thin, and the Christians were also themselves worn 
out, it seemed best to tarry there (at Chiaha) and rest themselves." 2 
Now, had they marched down the Coosawattee and Oostanaula 
rivers, from Carters (Gausili) to Rome, the route could not have 
been called mountainous, because these rivers flow through a 
beautiful valley. Ranjel says, further: "The next day, Thursday, 
they went along a large stream, near the river which they had 
crossed in the plain where the woman chief went off. It was 
now very large." 3 Now, if we turn to the route from Connasauga 
to the Chattooga river, and down that stream to Chiaha, the 



1 Narratives of De Soto, vol. I, pp. 72-73. 

2 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 107. 

3 Narratives of De Soto, vol. 2, p. 106. 



62 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., 19, 1917 

mystery is cleared and the route fits the description exactly. 
Ranjel says: "Monday, which was the last day of May, the 
Governor left Gausili and came with his army to an oak wood 
along the river, and the next day they crossed by Connasauga, and 
at night they slept in the open country." 1 It will be seen that 
De Soto "came with his army to an oak wood along the river," not 
along a river; therefore, they followed the Coosawattee to Conna- 
sauga and there left the river; because, the night following, "they 
slept in the open country," which means that there was no village 
at which they could camp; had they followed the river, villages 
would have been plentiful. 

From Connasauga to the Chattooga river, the expedition had to 
cross Lavender mountain and other ridges in an uninhabited or 
sparsely settled country. This is Elvas' "desert" and part of 
Ranjel's "mountainous way." An inspection of the map of 
Georgia and Alabama shows that, as they approached the Coosa 
river along the Chattooga, the route fits exactly the description as 
given by Ranjel, quoted above, when he says: "... they went 
along a large stream, near the river which they had crossed in the 
plain. ..." 

At the point where the Coosa and the Chattooga rivers approach 
each other, there is a large island, near Cedar bluff, in Cherokee 
county, Alabama, known as McCoy's island, the largest in the Coosa 
above Ten Islands shoals, and on this island was probably situated 
Chiaha, that illusive site that has puzzled investigators for so 
many years. The time from Gausili to Chiaha, six days, was ample 
in which to make the journey. 

Another significant statement, by Ranjel, points to McCoy's 
island as the site of Chiaha. He says: "The next day, Saturday, 
the Spaniards crossed one arm of the river, which was very broad, 
and went into Chiaha, which is on an island in the same river." 2 
Now, there are three large islands in this vicinity, but all are near 
the west, or right bank, except McCoy's island, which is near the 
east, or left bank; therefore, to reach it, the Spaniards had to cross 



1 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 106. 

2 Narratives of De Soto, vol. 2, p. 107. 



Andrews] DE SOTO'S ROUTE 63 

the arm "which was very broad." No such statement could apply 
to the western crossings to the other islands nearby. 

McCoy's island is three thousand feet long and five hundred 
feet wide at the widest part. We must remember, however, that 
we are dealing with a description written nearly four hundred years 
ago, and since that time the island could have changed greatly. 
For example, the eastern or smaller branch of the river could have 
moved to the westward — such movements frequently occur — and 
thus have reduced the size of the island to such an extent that the 
site of Chiaha may now be wholly or partly on the eastern mainland. 

Why did De Soto select this route to Chiaha, instead of that 
through the populous section bordering the Oostanaula and Coosa 
rivers? Because the latter was longer, and not in the direction 
he was at that time traveling to reach the coast. He had, also, 
been informed that food was plentiful at Chiaha, which proved to 
be true, and he decided to push forward by the shortest practicable 
route, which was the Indian trail between Gausili and Chiaha, part 
of the way along the Chattooga river. The route has been indi- 
cated, in a general way, on the map. 

Monday, June 28, 1540, the expedition left Chiaha. The next 
morning "they had much labor crossing a river which flowed with 
a strong current." 1 This is Spring creek, which was probably 
swollen by rains that so frequently occur in this region in June and 
July. "Wednesday they passed over a river and through a village 
and again over the river and slept in the open country." 2 The first 
crossing was probably a branch of Terrapin creek; the second, 
Terrapin creek itself. 

Five days after leaving Chiaha they reached Coste. The site 
of this town is at the head of Woods island, a large island in the 
Ten Islands shoals, containing about one hundred and eighty acres. 
Lock, Saint Clair county, Alabama, is near its lower end. There 
are evidences of a large town site near the head of the island, and 
many aboriginal objects have been found there; and, as yet, the 
surface only has been touched. 

1 Narratives of De Soto vol. 2, p. 108. 

2 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 109. 



64 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., 19, 191 7 

Now, for the proof that this is the site of Coste. It is just the 
right distance from Chiaha to have been reached in five days' 
travel, and this is the time given by Ranjel; it is the only large 
island between McCoy's and Densen's islands, the latter being 
twenty-two miles below. The distance from Chiaha to Densen's 
island is too great for five days' travel, now that the expedition was 
in a populous country where food was plentiful, and the table of 
distances shows they traveled leisurely through it. There was an 
Indian ford across the river at this island that was used by the early 
white settlers; and the writer, himself, has forded the river there, 
and can testify to the roughness of the bottom and the swiftness 
of the current. Now, hear what Ranjel has to say of this crossing, 
and it will be seen that his description fits exactly the conditions 
existing there at this day. "This village was on an island in the 
river, which there flows large, swift and hard to enter. And the 
Christians crossed the first branch with no danger to any of the 
soldiers, yet it was no small venture." 1 In other words., it was 
not a dangerous crossing; but, on account of the width (the branch 
they crossed being one-quarter mile wide), the swiftness of the 
current, and the roughness of the bottom, "it was no small venture." 
For "hard to enter," read "difficult of approach." The river bank 
at this old Indian ford is low, and the river itself is not "hard to 
enter"; but the approach is through a rugged, broken country, 
intersected in every direction by ravines and complicated with 
numerous outcroppings of rock ledges. "Difficult of approach" is 
undoubtedly the meaning of Ranjel's words. 

The western arm or branch of the river is a narrow, shallow, 
insignificant stream, and, on leaving the island, the expedition 
crossed it to the west bank of the river. Ranjel says of the crossing: 
"Friday, July 9, the commander and his army departed from Coste 
and crossed the other branch of the river." 2 No mention is made 
of any difficulty in making this crossing; therefore, the "other 
branch of the river" was the narrow, western arm. 

They passed the night on the west bank, and Ranjel says: "On 

1 Narratives of De Soto, vol. 2, p. 109. 

2 Narratives of De Soto, vol. 2, p. 111. 



Andrews] DE SOTO'S ROUTE 65 

the other side was Tali." 1 Elvas says: "The Christians left Coste 
the ninth day of July, and slept that night at Tali." 2 Ranjel 
declares that De Soto forced the Indians to take them across the river 
to Tali in canoes. 3 Only part of one day was consumed in travel 
from Coste to Tali, and it is, therefore, probable that Tali was 
situated at the mouth of upper Tallasahatchee creek, about one 
mile below the crossing of the Seaboard Air Line Railway, near 
Lock, Saint Clair county, Alabama, and opposite the site of Fort 
Strother, one of General Jackson's bases on the Coosa river, during 
•the Creek Indian War of 1812-1814. 

We are now in a position to follow De Soto's course to Cosa from 
Chiaha. At the latter place he crossed to the east bank of the 
Coosa river, marched down that bank to Coste, then crossed to the 
west bank; marched part of one day down that bank; crossed 
again to the east bank at Tali ; and continued down near the east 
bank to Cosa, where he left the river. The expedition left Tali 
Sunday afternoon, July 11, or Monday morning, July 12. "Mon- 
day they crossed a river and slept in the open country; Tuesday 
they crossed another river, and Wednesday another large river 
and slept at Tasqui." 4 The "rivers" they crossed Monday and 
Tuesday are Cane and Blue-eye creeks, in Talladega county, that 
enter the Coosa river between Ten Islands shoals and Choccolocco 
shoals. The "large river" they crossed Wednesday is Choccolocco 
creek, and the site of Tasqui is on the left bank of that large stream, 
in Talladega county, about one mile above its junction with the 
Coosa river, at the "Dickinson Mill Site," in Sec. 14, T. 17 S., 
R. 4 E., Huntsville Meridian. 

Choccolocco creek would be called a river in any other state 
than Alabama. Its width at the place of De Soto's crossing is 
two hundred feet; its depth varies from a few feet on shoals to 
fifteen or twenty feet in pools. There is no other stream emptying 
into the Coosa river, on either side between Tali and Cosa, that 



1 Ibid., vol. 2, p. in. 

2 Ibid., vol. 1, p. 80. 

3 Ibid., vol. 2, p. in. 
* Ibid., vol. 2, p. in. 

5 



66 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., 19, 191 7 

could be called a "large river," even by the De Soto chroniclers, 
who named all streams rivers. Choccolocco creek is, therefore, 
the "large river" referred to by Ran j el. 

It is clear, from the accounts given in the De Soto narratives, 
that the expedition marched down the Coosa river from Chiaha to 
Coste and Tali. Elvas says: "Then taking the Chief (of Coste) 
by the hand,, speaking to him with kind words, drew him with some 
principal men away from the town. . . . He told them that they 
could not go thence . . . until the sick men arrived whom he had 
ordered to come down the river in canoes from Chiaha." 1 Biedma 
says: "We left, following along the banks of the river, and came to 
another province, called Costehe." 2 

From Tali to Cosa they had to follow along the general course 
of the Coosa, though none of the narratives, nor does La Vega, 
mention such a stream. Along this part of the route villages were 
plentiful on the numerous creeks, and the route away from the 
river was more direct, and probably along the trail followed by the 
Indians. An examination of the United States Geological topo- 
graphical maps, a list of which is given at the end of this paper, will 
give a much clearer idea of this part of the route than can be gotten 
from an inspection of the small-scale map herein (fig. 7). 

On Friday, July 16, 1540, 3 the expedition entered Cosa. The 
chief, borne on a litter and surrounded by his retainers, came out to 
welcome De Soto. Even among savages, the rigid rules of court 
etiquette must be observed. La Vega says the Indians had habili- 
ments of marten skins, which were fragrant. 4 The fragrance of the 
skunk did not appear to discommode the Indian wearers, — nor 
the Spaniards, as for that matter, for only passing mention is made 
of the circumstance. 

In 1915, the writer visited the site of Cosa, and walked from the 
mouth of Talladega creek to the mouth of Tallasahatchee creek, 
a distance of one mile. The site of the village is in Talladega 



1 Narratives of De Soto vol. 1, p. 79. 

2 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 15. 

3 Narratives of De Soto vol. 1, p. 81; vol. 2, p. 112. 

4 De Soto and Florida, p. 374. 



Andrews] DE SOTO'S ROUTE 67 

county, about three-quarters of a mile from the Coosa river, on 
Talladega creek, in Sec. 8, T. 20 S., R. 3 E., Huntsville Meridian, 
and about two miles above Childersburg, Alabama. At the mouth 
of the creek a ferry road has cut deep into the bank, thus exposing 
shell heaps buried some two feet under the surface. The depth of 
the shellheaps below the surface goes to show that the site is an 
ancient one. 

It is a beautiful country, in the vicinity of old Cosa, and in the 
sixteenth century, covered as it was then with a grand forest of 
hardwoods, it must have been "good td look upon," and one can 
understand the pleasure it excited in the chroniclers. 

Bibliography: Maps of the U. S. Geological Survey 

Georgia-South Carolina. Carnesville Sheet. 

(Franklin county, Ga., north and south forks of the Broad river, in Georgia, 
junction of the Hudson river with the Broad, and probable site of Xuala.) 
Georgia-North Carolina-Tennessee. Ellijay Quadrangle. 

(Cartecay and Ellijay rivers, and their junction to form the Coosawattee.) 
Georgia-Tennessee. Dalton Sheet. 

(Carters, Gausili, Murray county, Ga. The Coosawattee and Conasauga 
rivers.) 
Georgia-Alabama. Rome Quadrangle. 

(The mountainous country, Elvas' "desert," between the Conasauga and 
Chattooga rivers.) 
Alabama. Fort Payne Sheet. 

(Coosa and Chattooga rivers; McCoy's Island, site of Chiaha, near Mc- 
Clelland's ferry; Spring and Terrapin creeks.) 
Alabama. Springville Sheet. 

(Continuation of the Coosa river; site of Coste, on Wood's island, near Lock 
Three; Tali at Francis' ferry; Tasqui, one mile above mouth of Choccolocco 
creek.) 
Alabama. Talladega Sheet. 

(Continuation of the Coosa river; site of Cosa about three-quarters of a 
mile above the mouth of Talladega creek.) 



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